Tony
Evans
Pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship
and president of The Urban Alternative in Dallas
|
If you have a heart that desperately desires
to know and serve God, the place to begin is by understanding and believing
the biblical truth of your identity in Christ. This is a watershed issue, one that
determines whether you will live free in Christ or live as a slave of the
world, the flesh, and the devil. I
consider the truth about our identity in Christ to be the greatest principle
of Christian living in Scripture.
(Introduction) |
I’m convinced the
reason a lot of Christians don’t experience the abundant life Christ came to
give (John 10:10) is that many of us are trying to live the Christian
life. That’s not a contradiction,
because the Christian life is, by definition, the life of Christ. So, in order for you and me to live the
Christian life, Christ must live His life in and through us while we get out of
the way. That’s what we mean by the
exchanged life.
The exchanged life
begins with a death experience. Paul
opens Galatians 2:20 by declaring, “I have been crucified with Christ.” Our crucifixion with Christ has already taken
place. You may say, “But I don’t feel
crucified.” That’s all right. Dead people don’t feel dead. But you are crucified because God says you’re
crucified, whether you feel it or not.
This is why Paul could
say his only boast was “in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians
6:14). Paul rejoiced in the cross not
just because it meant that his sins were paid for, but because the old Paul –
the hate-filled persecutor of the church – was dead and gone. Paul was eager to share in Christ’s death
so that he might share in His resurrection life.
In Galatians 2:20,
where Paul said that since he had been crucified with Christ, “it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me.” When
I exchange my life for Christ’s life, He expresses Himself in me. When I think, Christ thinks through me. When I move, Christ moves through me. When I speak, Christ speaks through me. A complete exchange has occurred. That’s why the Bible says that Christ is the
fullness of God “in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete”
(Colossians 2:9-10). He is all you ever
need. We display the life of Jesus to
the world when we live exchanged lives.
You may be reading
this, scratching your head, and saying, “Tony, all of this sounds good. But it’s not working for me. I pray and read my Bible. I go to church and try to witness. I’m doing the right things, but I’m not seeing
the victory you’re talking about. What’s
wrong?” Paul continued in Galatians
2:20, “The life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of
God.” There it is. God’s expectation is that we will live this
new life by faith. The exchanged life,
the life of freedom in Christ, is activated only
by faith. Not by trying or straining or
even praying. Faith is living as if God
is telling the truth, whether we feel like or not. It may feel awkward at first if you’re not
used to living by faith. But that’s OK.
Paul concludes
Galatians 2:20 by talking about what Christ had done for him. “He loved me, and delivered Himself up for
me.” Our “spiritual service of
worship” (Romans 12:1) is responding to this sacrificial love and giving
ourselves wholly to Christ, letting Him live through us. If Christ loved us enough to give His life for us, then He loves us enough to give
His life to us, so that He might
express His life [and His love] through
us. When you exchange your life with the
Christ who died for you and rose from the dead, He brings to you the power of
His perfect, sinless life.